Factions and Fractions: A Case Study of Power Politics in the Australian Labor Party

428 A. LEIGH
Labor’s period in federal government from 1983 to 1996 cemented the hold that
factions had over the Party. By the early 1980s, three main factions—Right, Left
and Centre-Left—had formed (Richardson 1994, 80). They held regular meetings,
elected of ce-bearers, produced newsletters and in some cases even formulated
their own policies. In 1984, a year after Bob Hawke led the ALP to an election
victory, the Centre-Left faction became nationally integrated. The Right and the
Left quickly followed suit (Lloyd 2000, 57).
The most signi cant role factions played was in allocating party positions.
Whereas previous decades had seen appointments to the front bench and to
parliamentary committees decided by open ballots within the caucus, the 1980s saw
the emergence of a more orchestrated system. Faction leaders would agree between
themselves how many positions each grouping was entitled to, based loosely on the
proportion of the caucus who supported each faction. Once this was settled, each
faction would each conduct an internal ballot for the number of positions they had
been allocated. All that remained for caucus to do was to rubber-stamp the agreed
ticket (Kelly 1992, 30). 4
The result was that power within the ALP now depended upon having in uence
within one’s faction, rather than within the Party as a whole. This placed particular
strains upon the factions. During the 1980s and 1990s, major intra-factional
disputes occurred not only in New South Wales (Simms 2000, 97), but also in
Victoria (Hudson 2000, 113–15), Queensland (Wanna 2000, 135–6, 144), Western
Australia (Sayers 2000, 160–3) and South Australia (Summers and Parkin 2000,
175–80).
This article aims to investigate the development of factions and ‘fractions’
(factional sub-groupings). It does so by analysing the development of a single
faction—the Left in New South Wales (NSW). 5 This grouping now wields
signi cant power. By virtue of obtaining between 35 and 40% of the vote at the
annual State Conference of the NSW ALP, it decides who will ll two positions
in the Senate and eight positions in the NSW Legislative Council. It selects two
of cers in the NSW Branch—one paid and one unpaid—and around 100 members
of the NSW ALP’s various committees. The NSW Left also plays a major role in
preselections for the House of Representatives and the NSW Legislative Assembly.
Observers sometimes assume that because it stands in opposition to the NSW
Right—generally regarded as the most formidable faction in the Labor Party—it
must be a feeble force. This is misconceived. Factions have a tendency to create
their opposites, and the modern NSW Left is one of the most powerful factions in
the ALP.
Drawing on interviews with key players in the faction, 6
plus what written
4 The rst major test of this system was in the 1983 ballot for the 23 positions in the rst Hawke Ministry.
All nominees on the cross-factionalticket were elected,with votes ranging from 80 to 106 out of a possible
106. Of the few renegades who ran against the ticket, the highest vote received was for Ros Kelly, who
polled only 41 votes (Cohen 1990, 55). Later ballots saw some controversial exclusions, such as Barry
Cohen in 1987 and Barry Jones in 1990 (Parkin and Warhurst 2000, 34).
5 Unless otherwise stated, the ‘Left’ will be used to refer to the organisation known as the Combined
Branches’ and Unions’ Steering Committee until 10 November 1989, when it changed its name to the
NSW Socialist Left.
6 In 1994, as a member of the Left faction, I interviewed Anthony Albanese, Meredith Burgmann,
Rodney Cavalier, Bruce Childs, Laurie Ferguson, Luke Foley, Tim Gartrell, Arthur Gietzelt, Christine
Kibble, Michael Knight, Jeannette McHugh, Brad Norington, Paul O’Grady, Chris Siorokos, Ann